All Saints' Day: The Story of a Non-Saint

On November 1st we celebrate the best of those of us who have lived on earth, the Saints.  We can use the day to remember people who have lived their faith above all.  The Catholic Church has many Saints and it is not hard to find one that we have a connection to, either by the way they lived or by things they were associated with.  Some lived 100’s of years ago.  Some have only passed on recently.

I would like to take the time to remember the story of someone who is not a Saint, but whom I look up to for intercession often,  Father Vincent Capodanno.

Born in 1929 of Italian immigrants, Vincent Capodanno was called to the faith and joined the Maryknolls, a Catholic missionary group just shortly after World War 2.  He eventually was ordained a priest in 1958 and completed missionary assignments in Taiwan and Hong Kong, fulfilling academic and emotional needs of the people he worked with.

In the mid-1960’s Father Capodanno found a different calling, to join the Chaplain Corps of the Navy and administer to those fighting for our country.  In 1966, after receiving his commission in the Navy, he was deployed to Vietnam, serving with the U.S. Marines.  Though he didn’t have to, Father Capodanno felt it was important to live among and to be as close to the front line Marines as he could be.  He spent time among them giving confessions, consoling the grieving and helping the suffering.  He was affectionately known as the “Grunt Padre” in honor of the way he lived as a Marine.

On September 4, 1967, Father Capodanno was involved in a major battle.  According to accounts he didn’t have to be there, and was asked to head back to safety by many of his fellow Marines.  But Father Capodanno didn’t leave.  He felt his duty to the men and to God was too important.  He continued to console the men, helping the wounded to safety and offering last rights as necessary for the dying.

It was there he gave the ultimate sacrifice.  Unarmed, he was shot 27 times, and died on that battlefield.  He gave his life as a Marine and faithful servant of God.

Posthumously, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.  He has had chapels named in his honor, especially those associated with the military.  In 1973 the Navy named a ship in his honor.

In the Catholic Church he has been named a “Servant of God.”  This is a step in becoming a Saint in the Catholic Church.  I don’t know if he will ever become St. Vincent, that’s up to the Vatican, but he is a Saint to me.  I ask for his prayers often.

"May God, who has offered strength through the hands of His only Son, Our Lord, and the Christ's many servants grant me the favor of His healing hand through in intercession of His servant, Father Vincent Capodanno, priest, missionary, and chaplain, who always sought to heal and comfort the wounded and dying on the field of battle.  May I be granted this request on my own field of battle.  I pray in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

My personal battlefield might not be in the jungles of Vietnam, but I still depend on Father Vincent Capodanno to give me strength to fight my personal battles, wherever and whatever they may be.